South Korea: Workplace focus for second wave of infections
Health officials in South Korea believe the country is going through a second wave of coronavirus based around workplace clusters, despite recording relatively low numbers overall. The country had been viewed as a success story in dealing with COVID-19, but now expects the pandemic to continue for months. Head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control (KCDC), Jeong Eun-kyeong, said the first wave lasted up until April. Yet since May, clusters of new cases have grown, including outbreaks at nightclubs in the capital, Seoul. Between those periods, daily confirmed cases had fallen from nearly a thousand to zero infections recorded for three days in a row. However, on 22 June authorities said that over the preceding 24 hours, 17 new infections had been recorded, from different clusters in large offices and warehouses. Dr Jeong said the recent resurgence had led her to conclude that the country was in the grip of a second wave of the virus, and that she expected it to continue. South Korea has avoided locking down the country and has instead relied on voluntary social distancing measures alongside an aggressive track, trace and test strategy to combat the virus. A total of 280 people have died since the country reported its first case on 20 January. Overall, more than 12,000 infections have been recorded.
Read more: BBC News Online. Source: Risks 953